Pendentive

“ It is just so with the pearl; like the silk, it drinks in and is impregnated with the very life of the wearer. When it has slept so many nights upon her fair bosom, the ornament is no longer an ornament, it is a part of the person, and is no longer to be seen by an indifferent eye. One alone has a right to know it, and to surprise upon that necklace the mystery of the beloved woman. ”

“ It may be that a simple pin or pair of earclips will be a gift to each bridesmaid; such a jewel should of course be worn. If any necklace is worn, it should be small. Pearl or gold earclips, without pendants, should be chosen to blend with the person and the costume, not to stand out. A small gold clip, with perhaps one precious stone or a small pattern, will not be too conspicuous. There may be one gold bracelet, not wide. Such jewels will preserve the individual grace of the bridesmaid while softening her into the harmony of the whole, as a background of youth and loveliness for the bride. ”

“ The pendent ornaments of the Middle Ages not only served as receptacles for relics but also took the form of crosses, medallions, votive tablets, and monograms. Though these do not attain the same importance as the pendants of the Renaissance, their extraordinary variety is proved by the inventories of the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, while their beauty is attested by the few examples that have fortunately been preserved. ”

“ The necklace To-morrow
THE Necklace which God long ago hung round the white neck of my Soul is composed of little-seeming curses, like precious and semi-precious gems. They are polished smooth as if by age, as if by wear, as if by fingering and as if by brisk industrious rubbing.
The Necklace is at once beautiful and ugly. The gems are in color chiefly blues and greens—with grays, lavenders, drabs and mauves. But mostly blues and greens. They make a circlet of small stones strung at short intervals as if on a strong thin gold wire, with two large tawdry pretty pendants hung in front. ”

“ Then for a few moments her eye brightened at beholding so much magnificence.
There were bracelets, ear-rings and necklace; a coronet with which to fasten the vail, from which hung graceful and delicate pendants; little tassels and ornaments to loop up the long, full skirt; a pair of dainty slippers, embroidered in strange devices with the same costly gems; and a girdle for the waist, from which depended two superb tassels, one before, and one behind, and which outrivaled anything that our heroine’s most brilliant imagination had ever pictured. ”

“ Then on the other side the windows glistened with the tawny glow of gold. A cascade of long pendant chains descended from above, rippling with ruddy gleams; small ladies’ watches, with the backs of their cases displayed, sparkled like fallen stars; wedding rings clustered round slender rods; bracelets, broaches, and other costly ornaments glittered on the black velvet linings of their cases; jewelled rings set their stands aglow with blue, green, yellow, and violet flamelets ”

“ I opened the box: there lay in it, in sparkling coil on the blue velvet, a magnificent diamond necklace; one great stone formed a pendent, and it was on this stone that I fixed my regard. I took it up and looked at it closely; then I examined the necklace itself. Marie’s eyes followed my every motion.
“You like these trinkets?” I asked.
“Yes,” said she, in that tone in which “yes” is stronger than a thousand words of rapture; and the depths of her eyes caught fire from the stones, and gleamed. ”

“ Old-fashioned brooches—one with a lock of gray hair in it, and the inscription “Our Aunt Mary” on the border. A simple pendant, an old watch and chain—a man's, and of generations past. A couple of inexpensive modern necklaces, and—the emerald ring from the portrait in the parlor! ”

“ The women wore silver and gold ornaments across the forehead, rich and fantastical, but not particularly becoming; and those who were wealthy enough, loaded themselves with a great variety of tasteless incumbrances—chains and bells of precious metals, a profusion of ear-rings, and silver fringes pendent over the eyes, while their bracelets, necklaces, amulets, nose rings, finger rings, and clasps of various kinds of coloured stones, were innumerable. ”

“ In the neck of their bodices the ladies fasten pins profusely set with precious stones. Hanging from the pin, and fastened at the lower end to the side of their dress, is a string of pearls or diamonds. They wear no necklace, but bracelets on their wrists and rings on their fingers, as well as long earrings of so great a weight that I know not how they can support them. ”

“ A clasp may often be fashioned of an heirloom. There may be a brooch or a ring which has been passed along in a family for generations or been linked with personal and sentimental episodes and memories. Or there may be a piece of jewelry which a woman does not wish to abandon—yet which has fallen out of style. What may look old-fashioned on the dress front may preserve all its beauty as a clasp. Indeed, an old piece of jewelry, without altering the setting, may in this way be incorporated into a necklace. ”

“ It is not good form to wear ornaments made in the form of beasts or reptiles. The sacred emblem of the cross set in shining jewels and worn at ball or rout, shows a most pitiable ignorance of the eternal fitness of things.-414-
Well bred young girls are limited as to jewels—a string of pearls for the slender neck, a ring with the natal stone or an armament of turquoises and pearls, a little gold love manacle about the wrist, that is all, and quite enough until after marriage. A bride may wear for the marriage ceremony either diamonds or pearls—not in profusion—but never gold ornaments. ”

“ Do not laugh; that object was the golden bracelet that the Mother of God wears on one of the arms in which rests her divine Son. I turned aside my gaze and strove again to pray. Impossible. Without my will, my eyes moved back to the same point. The altar lights, reflected in the thousand facets of those diamonds, were multiplied prodigiously. Millions of living sparks, rosy, azure, green and golden, were whirling around the jewels like a storm of fiery atoms, like a dizzy round of those spirits of flame which fascinate with their brightness and their marvellous unrest. ”

“ Let your jewellery be always the best of its kind. Nothing is so vulgar, either in youth or age, as the use of false ornaments.
There is as much propriety to be observed in the wearing of jewellery as in the wearing of dresses. Diamonds, pearls, rubies, and all transparent precious stones belong to evening dress, and should on no account be worn before dinner. In the morning let your rings be of the more simple and massive kind; wear no bracelets; and limit your jewellery to a good brooch, gold chain, and watch. ”

“ He then commences the operations belonging to his department or art; which is to arrange, display, and set the gems so as to produce the best effect, and present the most striking and captivating appearance, according to the nature of the ornament required: whether it be an elegant groupe, richly combined, a necklace, an ear-drop, a ring, or a pin. The setting should be as little shewn as possible, for it is by concealing his art that the jeweller displays the gem to the greatest advantage. ”

“ In the deep décolleté she pushed two rosebuds from the big bunch, and hung round her neck a pendant of mother-of-pearl and silver. She wore no other jewellery, and she needed none. She faced him, a vision of loveliness. ”

“ The minister and I entered the chapel, where I explained to him the form of the Episcopal service, and to save time enacted the part of the groom, the bride and the other necessary characters. Much delighted with this service, he was proceeding finely when we came to the giving of the ring. “Oh, how about the ring,” he asked. Here was another dilemma. Shades of the Goddess of Matrimony! A ring! and in camp, where jewelry was conspicuous only by its absence! My only ring, a garnet cluster, would not serve for a wedding ring, yet a ring must be had. ”

“ From a father to his son, to strengthen his education: "My necklace, my beautiful feather; just as precious metal is forged, as jade is bored, in the same way you've been forged, you've been bored. I own necklaces, and beautiful feathers, I have children. ”

“ The arrangement of the various parts of a necklace or string of pendants is found to be much alike the world over, consisting of a strand of beads, small toward the ends and increasing in size toward the middle, where a central bead or pendant of peculiar form or unusual size is placed.
The practices of modern barbarians in the employment of beads as ornaments are extremely varied. They are employed in dressing the hair, in head-dresses and plumes, and pendants to these; as pendants to the hair, ears, nose, and lips ”

“ The appearance of the necklace may be completely transformed; a daytime jewel may be transmuted to evening elegance. Various moods can be deftly suggested, or stressed, by the clever placing of the jewel drop. ”

“ These fine compositions, when formed of precious stones, show knots and interlacings for clasps, pendants, and earrings, in which diamonds are fully displayed in rose-cut forms. As models for objects not composed entirely of stones, we find seals, rings, bracelets and chains decorated with ribbons and bows mingled with monograms, and emblems, such as death's-heads. Together with these appear tasteful arrangements for enamel-work in the form of natural flowers of great charm and delicacy. ”

“ For a few moments she had stood still, gazing helplessly at the case before her, astonishment depicted upon her countenance, her expression gradually changing to consternation, as she grasped the unpleasant fact that her beautiful ruby necklace—her mother's chain of rare jewels—the heirloom which had descended to her—was missing. ”

“ One is to keep my jewelry bright with a strange foreign paste an old Frenchwoman once gave me in Paris. It's of a vivid red, and stains the fingers dreadfully if you don't take care. Not even water will take it off, see mine. I used that paste on my pendant last night just after you left me, and being awfully sleepy I didn't stop to rub it off. If your finger-tips are not red, you never touched the pendant, Miss Driscoll. Oh, see! They are as white as milk.
"But some one took the sapphires, and I owe that person a scolding, as well as myself. ”

“ The desire of the woman, the taste of the man, the discovery of a superb jewel in a shop, or a talk with a designer, may any of them shape the decision and the gift. A flower design, as I have said, is always attractive. And if one comes upon a fine one, why wait for an anniversary? Alice looked up in Wonderland to remark that she preferred unbirthday presents to birthday presents, because there could be so many more of them. An unexpected gift can be a bright surprise, and make any day a rich occasion. ”

“ A little further on you may meet with a jeweller’s, where ornaments the most rare and costly are to be found: massive old necklaces of amethyst or emerald, in which the ungainly setting bears such a contrast to the value of the stone—rich clasps of pink topaz or ruby, for the collar of a cloak—sword-handles all paved with precious gems—and signet-rings, that have circled the fingers of proud Counts of the Empire, and, mayhap, sealed with their impress many a dark and gloomy record. ”

“ Another necklace of the same brilliance went round her throat and rested on a crimson satin bodice covered with gold. From her shoulders sprang spangled wings, and from below her skirt, with its garlands of roses, were silver shoes with diamond buckles. ”

“ Among the treasures of her jewel chest, the woman will select with a discerning eye. If she is to wear a new gown made for the opening, it is well to try the jewels on, with the gown, in advance. If she finds that a necklace with a pendant, or pendant parts, graces the décolletage, even the most beautiful pendant earclips should not tempt her to wear them. Such earclips are probably adjustable so that the pendants can be removed, and the upper motifs worn to grace the ear lobes. On the other hand, if a tiara is in the cherished jewel collection, it may now be taken forth and worn. ”

“ Being the most prominent article of personal adornment, the necklace requires considerate care. Poorly chosen for the particular individual—no matter how attractive the jewel in itself—it may make a woman seem overdressed. Stones of the wrong color may make her skin look sallow. A heedlessly selected style may emphasize wrinkles in the neck. With proper thought, however, the right necklace, well fitted, not only presents its own beauty but adds youth and beauty to the chinline and neck of the wearer. ”

“ The elder ladies are most dazzling in point of dress, in their magnificently embroidered, flowered, and laced mantillas, rebosos of all the colours of the rainbow, jewelled zones, gold bracelets, and resplendent necklaces. ”

“ Naturally I asked if I couldn’t accommodate him with a little loan, so we could take the pendant out with us to-night. But he thanked me and said he couldn’t think of borrowing of me, and we drove off. He was awfully cut up about the pendant, though he kept saying it didn’t matter at all, only, as he put [Pg 277] it, ‘You know how women are about such things. They like a present at the time. If they’re going to have a birthday, they want their gifts on the day. ”

“ The little charms may be heart-shaped, or a tiny hand of coral. There may be a small string of turquoises as a bracelet, long believed sure to keep the infant from falling. One of the gifts a child will come to prize more and more as the years go by is a little necklace of pearls—to which at each birthday another choice pearl or two are added, until the budding young woman has a beautiful string. ”